Letting Go
Sometimes in order to have your Happy Ending you have to let go of what you want, to convince yourself it's only what you thought you wanted and that things are better the way they are. Fakir truly believes this and lives by it every day. He sits by the pond, out near the edge of the old dock, quill and paper in hand as he writes and writes and writes. He writes little nothings, observations of what has happened, what is happening right now, but never what could be. He doesn't trust himself not to fall into the corruption that his ancestor had, never straying a letter away from non-fiction for fear of what could be if he did.
Little Duckie floats serenely near him on the water's surface. She's older now, her golden juvenile feathers faded to a mature ivory. She doesn't dance anymore, or nod her head, sometimes she doesn't even look at Fakir when he talks to her, there is no understanding in her eyes though she does recognize him. Fakir remembers watching it happen, with every little hold Drosselmeyer's story had on their lives snipped a little more of the spark left her eyes until there was none left at all. What else could he do? They had agreed that it was better to be themselves and to let people live the lives they chose and not to let any Stories run rampant… especially His. Through it all Fakir has kept his promise, though she's little more than his pet now. He stays by her side and she stays by his, following him home from the pond, never flying south for the winter, eating what he feeds her as greedily as any animal.
Fakir idles in his chair, the quill gone slack in his hand as he stares up into the trees surrounding Duckie's pond and absorbs the warm sunshine. He can hear the little duck nearby as she paddles about in the water, dipping her head or fluttering her wings. He feels… content. Content is good, he'll never admit that he can't claim happiness. It's too late to worry about that, he can't do anything. After all, Duckie is what is most important to him, and he has her. Doesn't he?
This is for the July contest at Club-Tutu on DA, the prompt was the last speech Neko-sensei gave in the series. Well, uh... this came out rather depressing. I actually edited it before posting here to add a little more depression to it, I just felt it wasn't a sad enough ending without making it clear that Fakir realizes he's the reason Duck can't remember him anymore. I was watching a Let's Play of The Path when I felt the urge to write this so you might realize why it's so depressing. Sadly, I think this is the most realistic ending there could be for this pairing. Fortunately fairy tales don't need to be realistic! Hopefully something much happier will be coming soon.